Bang & Olufsen
Danish multinational audio equipment manufacturer and retail chain
Bang & Olufsen A/S (B&O) is a Danish high-end consumer electronics company that designs and manufactures audio products, television sets, and telephones, originally from Denmark, founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, who designed a radio to work with alternating current, a product of significance at a time when most radios were still running on batteries.
History
Early history
Peter Bang (1900–1957), son of Camillo Bang, a successful Danish businessman, showed great interest in radio technology from an early age. After graduating as an engineer in 1924, he spent six months working in a radio factory in the USA. When he returned to Denmark, he collaborated with his friend Svend Olufsen (1897–1949), whose parents made the attic of their manor house in Struer in Jutland available for experiments. When they officially opened their business in 1925, Bang focused on the technology while Olufsen was dealing with business. There were a number of successful developments in the 1930s and 1940s, including a sound recording system for the film industry, roof-mounted loudspeakers for circuses and army vehicles, and the iconic Beolit 39 radio that featured a Bakelite cabinet.
However, it was many years before their business became significantly profitable. The firm suffered a major setback towards the end of World War II when its factory at Gimsing was burnt down by pro-Nazi saboteurs as a punishment for the management's refusal to team up with the Germans. Undeterred, Bang and Olufsen rebuilt the factory, and they produced electric razors until 1955, and then moving on to develop a range of radio, radiogram, and television sets, that was influenced later by a designer named Ib Fabiansen who began work for the company in 1957.
In the 1990s, B&O opened its dedicated stores, selling directly to customers but not selling through retailers, and the production of audio separates was discontinued in favor of mini-type audio systems sold, as was before for B&O, at a price that was higher than the industry average.
Recent history
Because of the 2008 financial crisis, the company experienced a sharp decline in sales and announced significant losses; between 2008 and 2009, annual revenue declined from $853 million to $528 million, and its stock price dropped from $52 to $8.50.
The public source identifies “Bang & Olufsen” as danish multinational audio equipment manufacturer and retail chain. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Bang, Olufsen and Danish.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Bang & Olufsen”, the useful work is to connect “danish multinational audio equipment manufacturer and retail chain” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q790020. VIAF identifies the subject as 159816867. The Library of Congress control number is n98043754. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 1900, 1957 and 1924.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bang & Olufsen”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bang & Olufsen primary sources, Bang & Olufsen archive and Bang research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bang & Olufsen”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bang & Olufsen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.